This Year, ED Is Keeping Up With Financial-Aid Applications

Determinations of eligibility for federal financial aid appear to be
running on schedule this year, much to the relief of college-bound
students and administrators who were inconvenienced by delays last
year.

The Department of Education oversees the processing of the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, a form
that determines a student's eligibility for federal grants or
loans. As of April 11, the department reported that it had received
more than 5 million applications, and it had processed 92 percent
of the paper FAFSAs and 100 percent of the electronic
applications.

The numbers represent a vast improvement over the situation in
spring 1996, when technical glitches and the lingering effects of
federal government shutdowns had resulted in a backlog in processing
applications.

"It's been light-years' worth of difference," said Paul Hill, the
development manager for the Education Department division that oversees
FAFSA processing.

Many college officials feared last year that the backlog would
disrupt their schedules for making financial-aid offers to students and
receiving responses. A handful of schools moved back their May 1
acceptance deadlines, the traditional date by which a student must
accept or decline a school's offer to enroll. ("Despite Federal Aid Backlog, Colleges Retain
Deadline," April 17, 1996.)

To prevent the problem from recurring in the current school year,
the department began its earliest-ever distribution of the FAFSA to
high schools in mid-October. It also introduced an automated system for
ordering FAFSAs.

In addition, the department has encouraged students to file
electronic applications using a Windows-based computer program known as
the FAFSA Express, in which students transmit financial data by modem
directly to the department. This year, the department began offering a
"save to diskette" function that allows schools to download FAFSA
Express from the Internet's World Wide Web.

In June, the department also plans to launch an interactive on-line
Internet application called FAFSA on the Web, which will not require
downloading of any software.

No Delays Reported

Counselors appear to be pleased with the way FAFSA processing is
humming along this spring.

Last year, in response to the FAFSA delay, the Alexandria, Va.-based
National Association for College Admission Counseling surveyed its
members to find out if they were pushing back their May 1
deadlines.

This year, according to NACAC Executive Director Joyce Smith, the
organization didn't do a survey because there did not appear to be any
delays. Ms. Smith said she had not heard complaints from any schools or
students about processing or distribution of the forms.

One of a handful of schools that compensated for last year's backlog
by moving its acceptance deadline to May 15 was Mary Washington College
in Fredericksburg, Va. This year, said Bob MacDonald, the college's
associate dean for financial aid, the deadline is once again May 1.

"We did not have the interruptions this year that we had last year,"
Mr. MacDonald said.

Ms. Smith praised the Education Department for improving FAFSA
processing. "The pressure now is on the kids to make the decisions;
that's about it," she said.